


Master of the House

by wellthatjusthappend



Series: Merfolk AU [6]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Bruce is a hypocrite, Interventions, M/M, Miscommunication, combination of a lot of different suggestions/questions, get a little more picture into what's been going on, if you count ignoring the facts, interspieces relationship, lots of reflections from Bruce, merfolk typical violence, mermaid au, scoldings, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 05:07:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11662236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wellthatjusthappend/pseuds/wellthatjusthappend
Summary: Most people just make decisions based on what they could live with.But there comes a time when you have to do the right thing no matter how much it kills you. Bruce lives and breathes this rule. He’s built his world and work around it and he will die by it.





	Master of the House

**Author's Note:**

> Meant to post this on Wednesday but it ended up being a little bit longer than the drabble I intended to write and then I was busy the other days. Still, enjoy more Merfolk madness! 
> 
> This is a mixture of several different suggestions and questions I got. Thanks to everyone for all your comments on the last story it was really encouraging!

_“Those who have been touched by death and lived beyond it know there is no greater honor to bestow upon someone.”_

_\-- Merfolk Proverb, Author Unknown_

* * *

 

Bruce often seemed to find himself in situations where there was no good decision. Choice A was horrible, choice B left him feeling sick, and choice C was unforgivable. It always seemed to be some variation of the same.

If people would just listen, if they’d just look at the facts he was sure they’d see sense and agree with him.

He had not been particularly surprised that Jason wouldn’t listen to him. He was a Mer, and while Dick was wonderful and very understanding Bruce was not unaware that he was the exception. It didn’t make it any less frustrating when he could _see_ that Jason was quite intelligent but still refused to concede to Bruce’s points even a little bit. It was not an unexpected result though.

Having such difficulty with _Tim_ though was incredibly surprising. He was in general an incredibly mature and level headed young man and the two of them generally saw eye to eye on most subjects. Tim had always surprised and delighted Bruce with his ability to put aside his personal feelings and be extremely objective. So Bruce had been utterly baffled when he’d told Tim why he couldn’t go back to see Black Mask’s Mer and the dangers involved and Tim had simply snuck out to do so anyway.

“Might I be so bold to suggest that the Mer might in fact be a positive influence on young Master Tim?” Alfred had said mildly when Bruce had spent far too long glaring at the cams of Tim teaching the wild Mer how to kiss.

“He is recklessly putting his life into the hands of a pheral individual, Alfred, that is not what I would consider a positive influence.” Bruce had said stiffly tapping his desk in agitation.

“And I suppose the fact that Master Tim has rarely been open or happy as he is after a visit does not count for anything?” Alfred had said a little cooly.

“I do not have a problem with Tim befriending a Mer,” Bruce had frowned, “But entering into a sexual relationship is unnecessary, not to mention dangerous given Mer customs.”

“Not that you have done anything of the sort, of course.” Alfred had said sharply giving him a quelling look as he began to gather up Dick’s dinner.

Bruce hadn’t thought that was worth responding to. Dick was different after all.

Black Mask had been a very real concern to him for both Tim and Jason’s safety, but Bruce also hesitated to go in. Jason wasn’t being harmed as far as he could tell and the cost of human life that would result if Batman tried to remove the Mer would have been too high for Bruce’s stomach. He would have found a way eventually, Tim’s personal involvement demanded it, but he was still eternally grateful that they had been able to rescue Jason from an illegal auction instead.

Black Mask, interestingly enough, never suspected an outside thief. He was absolutely incensed and convinced that Batman and Robin had stolen his pet. Bruce had to bench Tim for a while because the death traps that were being set for Robin were increasingly dangerous.

Bruce’s original intention had been to immediately set Jason free in the ocean so he could back to his home. Tim had been upset, but hadn’t protested. He knew Jason was wild, was not a pet and deserved to be free. Dick had informed him that he could taste Jason’s hormones in the water and that he very clearly recently come off brooding on a nest of eggs and they shouldn’t try to move him until he was back to normal. Jason had been agitated, but calmed when Dick shared his nest with him. Tim spent as much time as he could in the water with them playing or just sitting and chatting and that had made both Mer a lot happier.

Jason had been subdued when he’d first arrived. Still not really leaving the little nest Dick had built despite the lack of eggs. That had not lasted. Bruce hadn’t realized Merfolk didn’t generally get along with each other till the cave pools exploded in violence the day Jason decided he was done with the nest and wanted to swim around a bit more and had to confront the other Mer in his living space. Bruce had panicked at the growling and shrieking of the Mer as the water churned and frothed red with blood.

He’d ended up shooting both of them with a tranquilizer.

Bruce was so angry when he’d seen the shallow way Dick was breathing and the deep gashes in his side. Dick was more skilled at fighting after Bruce’s training but Jason had surprised him. Jason was fairly scraped up as well but nothing serious.

That was the final straw for Bruce.

Tim and Alfred had been tending Dick in small pool Bruce had built for him back when the Mer had first arrived and gotten lonely and wanted to be closer to Bruce while he worked. Bruce stayed long enough to make sure Dick was going to be alright and then loaded Jason up and took him out to sea.

When the Mer woke up enough, Bruce release him back into the wild.

Jason had not taken too kindly to this and attacked the boat. A normal attack it would have withstood, but Jason wasn’t some stupid beast. He tore mercilessly at it’s weak points, ripped holes in the haul, and threw himself against the sides until he upset the balance enough to capsize the thing. Bruce himself only escaped a bloody watery death because had prepared for this possibility and called on Clark ahead of time and had the alien take him back to Gotham.

Tim had been upset that Bruce hadn’t let him say goodbye and wouldn’t speak to him. Alfred had served him burnt food for two weeks and put enough starch on his shirts that Bruce developed a rather terrible rash. Dick had been furious with him and yelled and yelled at him. Bruce remained unrepentant.

He didn’t like that it had made the people he cared about unhappy but he was certain he’d done the right thing setting Jason free.

...except that Jason had come back.

Not to the cave right away. He couldn’t find it. But to Gotham. Bruce saw the reports of Black Mask’s men on the docks getting killed by a violent Mer, weapons shipments ending up in the bottom of the bay, events on boats being sabotaged and the gang related participants left in pieces while everyone else was allowed to flee… Well, there wasn’t really a question to who it was.

Merfolk generally gravitated to the deepest parts of the ocean. They generally only attacked humans if they were in their territory or had personally wronged them.

Bruce couldn’t let it stand. Not just because of the people Jason was killing, but because Black Mask had also figured out that his pet was back and was thrilled and had started setting up traps to catch him. Bruce knew this because he’d had to disable several of them himself. Some of them would seriously cripple a Mer’s fins and it’s ability to get away. Bruce had to bite back anger at the thought of either Jason of Dick getting caught in any of the traps he’d seen.

He hadn’t needed to track Jason down because Tim found him first.

“Let him come back Bruce,” Tim had pleaded, staying just out of Jason’s reach on land, “You could train him like you did with Dick, he could help us keep Gotham safe.”

Bruce had agreed, if only because he was sure that Jason would keep coming back until he was either captured, killed, or managed to take Tim away from Gotham.

Since then, he’d been surprised by what a good student Jason was. For all that he rarely followed instructions outside their lessons, he _always_ listened to what Bruce had to say. He was much too violent, but he was also surprisingly kind even if the ways he expressed that always felt backward and a bit strange. Alfred was quite fond of the Mer and brought down a rocking chair to sit a read next to Jason’s pools. Bruce found several classical books that has been completely laminated for the Mer. Dick had never taken much of an interest in reading but Jason loved it. Asked very thoughtful questions about human nature and Merfolk and the world. Kept a stash of his special books in a little cave and guarded it jealously.

Bruce had thought ahead this time and put Jason in a separate pool from Dick. They could, technically still get into each other’s pools (the caves beneath the water were too extensive for Bruce to even begin to fully map out and block off) but they’d have to be very determined to do so. So long as they generally stayed out of each other’s territories then they seemed to get along alright. They would occasionally get into fights for fun, but Dick was far more skilled still and kept it from getting too deadly. Bruce knew that it was still really good for him to be able to play with Jason, being allowed to get so much rougher than he was ever allowed to with humans.

Bruce still blocked off Jason’s access to the ocean until he’d proven he could protect Gotham without causing a bloodbath.

“I know it is important to you not to kill,” Dick had frowned, “But I don’t think you’re ever going to convince Jason that it’s wrong. That just… not going to click with everything he knows about the world.”

“I don’t need him to believe that it’s wrong, I need to make sure he knows that he can’t do it.” Bruce had said stubbornly, “The public is going to be inclined to hunt and kill him even as it is. You’ve charmed them, but I have my doubts Jason will. They can not prove he was the Mer from before. But if he kills then they will have every excuse they need to claim that he is a dangerous menace that needs to be put down for Gotham’s safety. We _can not_ give them any such excuse or both of you will be in danger.”

“They already think that.” Dick had complained, having gotten this same lecture himself many times.

“Then we can not let them be right.” Bruce had said firmly.

Dick was right of course about one thing. Jason didn’t agree with Bruce and saw no reason to alter his behavior. He respected Bruce, his strength, and his skill. But those things only got him so far with the Mer. He hesitated to try and physically enforce what he said because Dick tended to interpret that kind of behavior as a sexual advance and he had a feeling Jason would too.

He did not need to know how Jason would respond to that.

So it became increasingly difficult to figure out something that would genuinely force Jason to behave when he wasn’t inclined to. Bruce could limit his time with Tim, but Tim had proven to be distinctly uncooperative on that front and threatening to do so generally just served to piss Jason off further and make him break more rules out of spite.

He ended up getting the idea from Alfred ironically enough. They way he could just give grown men a _look_ and have them ducking their heads meekly. Now he would never be able to do that for Jason, but… Dick had told him that Merfolk did have types of discipline, typically enforced in the early years before Merbabies little teeth fell out and their fighting teeth came in. Bruce had made Dick tell him everything he knew about Merchildren the first time he’d gone to pull Dick close and realized his stomach was a little swollen with eggs. He’d told himself he wouldn’t top Dick for that precise reason, but he was bad at telling Dick no to anything except for about Mer courting, which he refused point blank to negotiate about. Bruce had found out then that Merfolk laid eggs once a year regardless of if they’d been fertilized.

He’d also found out other helpful things too.

Bruce approached Jason’s pool and stood a safe distance from the water and tossed a small waterproof speaker into the pool. It would chime under the surface, the sound carrying so much better through the water, and Jason and Dick both knew to come to the surface when they heard it.

Jason waited just a little bit longer just to prove he could- though Bruce knew he was nearby- before Bruce saw the telltale flash of black and red as Jason’s fins brushed the surface a few yards away before Jason himself fully appeared with the small speaker in hand.

Merfolk didn’t have any form of verbal greeting dance like human’s. Dick had learned it before Bruce met him, and though Jason was likely aware of it he had never seen fit to adopt any of them. He just set the speaker down and stared up at Bruce with those big unearthly teal eyes waiting.

“Come up here.” Bruce said pointing to the shallows. Jason gave him a suspicious look but did so. He’d gotten better at staying above the surface for longer period of time but he still wasn’t as good at it as Dick. Bruce then hopped down into the shallow water himself and waded over to him. Jason watched him now with hyper alertness.

Bruce knew that the fact that he was in _Jason’s water_ without invitation signified a confidence in his ability to subdue Jason if needed. And while Bruce found most types posturing gaudy and foolish at best, he understood that they were very important to Merfolk.

“I know what you’ve been doing and you can’t court Tim. Not like Mer at least.” Bruce said deciding to cut straight to the point.

“Why?” Demanded Jason growing tense, his fins flaring in agitation.

“Mer courting is too brutal. I can not allow you to do anything like what it would entail to Tim.” Bruce said firmly.

“That’s not fair.” growled Jason indignantly, “I’m being careful! I always check that Tim is liking it and that it is not too much for him!”

“I did not say you couldn’t be with Tim, you just can’t harm him. There should be nothing that makes him bleed in any way, breaks his bones, or cuts off his air supply. You can court him in otherways. Ask Dick for advice if you need ideas.” Bruce said flatly.

Jason look horrified.

“You- _forever_? That’s- that’s fucking messed up! Tim is- it took me a while to figure out because human’s are so fucking weird- but Tim is very very special,” Jason tried to explain, “I’ve gotta court him right. He deserves- Why are you being such a shithead about this? Do you secretly hate Tim?”

“Of course not.” Bruce snapped, “You’re smarter than this Jason. You know this is not what human courting is like at all. You know Tim is just tolerating what you do to him because he likes you. You know human’s don’t experience pain the way Merfolk do but you put him through it anyway.”

“You’re lying.” hissed Jason looking upset.

“I am not. A human would never make it though Mer courting.” Bruce said. Though of course Dick had suggested many adjustments big and small to try and make it work anyway-

“Have you and Dick not courted?” Jason looked shocked.

“Of course not.” Bruce said, “I just told you-”

“If you don’t even consider Dick worthy as a mate how am I supposed to convince you-” Jasons started.

“We are not discussing Dick-”

“No wonder his self esteem is in the shitter if you’ve been doing this for years…”

“We are talking about you and Tim.” Bruce said.

Jason glared at him and then dunked himself in the water for a few breaths looking like he was serious stewing and thinking about just taking off… Bruce’s hand flexed in preparation but Jason resurfaced.

“What would I have to do,” Jason said seriously, “To prove I’m worthy to court Tim?”

“That’s not the point-” Bruce said.

“But you also don’t think I’m worthy, do you?” Jason said with narrow eyes. Bruce clenched his jaw because while he did like Jason very much, he did not approve of him and Tim being together. Jason just nodded to himself.

“I will court Tim more slowly until you can see me as worthy.” Jason decided.

“That is not the problem.”

“But I don’t know how to solve the other problem.” snapped Jason, “This one I can fix. You fight the bad human’s in your territory, yes? Tim suggested that I might help you as well.”

“You are not cleared for patrol.” Bruce cut him off sternly.

“I am much stronger than Dick, I can sink the bad boats much faster-” Jason said looking determined and raising himself up like he was going to flip around.

“No.” Bruce said sharply quickly stealing himself before grabbing Jason by the back to the neck and shoving him hard up against the rock. It wasn’t a particularly strong hold, but it was a special one that Dick had taught him that involved widespread fingers digging into the base of Jason’s neck.

“You- _you’re not allowed to do that_!” Jason cried out sounding slightly strangled even as his whole body went slack.

“You will do as I say.” Bruce said firmly.

“Bruce? Are you guys okay?” Dick poked his head up from the pool across the way looking concerned at first- Bruce should have been helping him get ready for patrol a while ago- and then quickly transforming into shock as he took them in.

“Let go!” Jason demanded, his whole face and neck going red with embarrassment.

“Bwahahahahahaha.” Dick started cackling uncontrollably.

“Shut the fuck up Dickhead, make this psycho stop.” Jason snapped.

“Dick leave, you’re not being helpful.” Bruce said.

“Oh my god, pfft, yeah sure, whatever you say.” Dick said still giggling uncontrollably ducking back under the water.

“Now, Jason,” Bruce started.

“Let go, I’m not a fucking baby.” Jason hissed in humiliation.

“Then you will act like an adult and listen. Don’t court Tim and don’t go into Gotham until I tell you that you can.” Bruce said, and he hadn’t thought this would work this well but he was glad he’d tried it.

“Fuck that-”

“Jason.” Bruce made his voice a growl and gave the back of his neck a little shake. Jason whined high and pitifully.

“Fine. _Fine.”_ Jason snapped looking even more embarrassed, “I won’t go out to Gotham till you say.”

“ _And?_ ” Bruce pressed.

“And I’ll talk to Tim. I ain’t promising nothing until I talk to him though.” Jason said trying to be firm. Bruce knew he could push a little harder and make Jason promise him anyway, knew Jason was going to try and get Tim to him figure out their way around Bruce, but… He approved of the fact that he wanted to run a big decision by Tim first. He did want to reinforce that behavior.

“That’s fine.” Bruce said easing up on his grip. Jason wiggled free the moment he was allowed to and flipped immediately into deeper water to put a good 20 feet between them.

“ _You are not my parent._ ” Jason resurfaced and spat at him still looking extremely embarrassed.

Bruce gave him a stern look in reply. Jason showed his teeth at him and disappeared.

“You going to explain that?” Dick asked the moment he came to his pool with his Nightfin things still looking extremely amused.

“Later.” Bruce said, “We’re late for patrol.”

“Riiiighht. Just so you know though, if you ever try and scruff me I might never be able to have sex with you again. That’d be way to disturbing for me.” Dick grinned.

“Noted.” Bruce said and rose to get his own things.

Patrol was a quiet thing. Dick was busy fixing a oil leak made because of greedy construction owners that threatened to poison the whole bay. He was fine but it meant that he was underwater the whole night and there was none of the usual chatter in his ear that he’d become accustomed to.

“What did you say to Jason? He didn’t come up to say goodbye to me.” Robin demanded looking at him suspiciously.

“You should talk to him.” Bruce said simply. He could see Robin narrow his eyes at him.

He got the cold shoulder from him most of the rest of patrol.

It was a relief to step back into the cave. Tim went straight for Jason’s pools strapping his rebreather around his head as he went without even glancing at Bruce. Rubbing his temples, Bruce went to the computer to enter that night’s reports until the alert came that Dick had re-entered the cave. He only had to wait a moment longer until Dick’s head popped up above the surface.

Dick hoisted himself onto the little lift Bruce had created for him so he could be moved into a large tub where Bruce could help rinse him off after patrol. The water around Gotham was thick with pollution and often harmful chemicals and oils. If Dick didn’t get cleaned off immediately after swimming in the bay he often got very sick which was why Bruce always tried to be there to make extra sure all the junk was cleaned off.

“What are you stewing about this time?” Dick wrinkled his nose at him, beckoning Bruce into the water with him. Bruce complied and helped peel off the black and blue armored top he insisted Dick wear for patrol. Not only did it help protect the vulnerable human-like skin of Dick’s upper body during fights, it also helped keep as much of the pollution from getting directly on Dick as possible. He’d also built in a high neck on the suit to help filter the water Dick breathed in from his gills and had him wear a mask to protect his eyes.

Dick had him fasion it like a superhero mask from all the stories about vigilantes he liked hearing about.

“Nothing important.” Bruce said taking off his mask a revealing those bright blue eyes looking at him curiously. Bruce his tilted and Dick let him dunk his head under the water obediently. Carefully rubbed clean water against the skin that had been under the mask which often got a little too dry.

“You know, I don’t believe that one bit.” Dick snorted when Bruce let him resurface.

“Hmm,” Bruce hummed non committedly and began aggressively scrubbing at Dick’s chest and back, determined not to leave any harmful residue on him.

“C’mon Bruce, you- nnh…” Dick arched and instinctively crooned at a particularly rough touch. Bruce pressed a light kiss to Dick’s temple even though he knew the Mer wanted no apology.

“Just thinking about Jason.” Bruce admitted, lightly tracing a few of the teeth shaped scars on Dick’s side.

“Jason is fine, Bruce.” Dick rolled his eyes immediately, wiggling a bit so Bruce could work down on his tail. He had to be both more and less careful about his scales, harder than most armor yet also quite painful if they were bent the wrong way. Bruce got his fingers into Dick’s side fins and spread them out carefully cleaning out every crease of the delicate tissue.

Dick always shivered and twitched with hypersensitivity with that kind of touch. Though he still laid patiently still until Bruce was done.

“I mean, he’s probably going to sulk forever that you scruffed him, but he’ll be fine.” Dick continued waving a hand.

“I worry that he and Tim will hurt each other.” Bruce admitted.

“Yes they will, and a good time will be had by all.” Dick said rolling his eyes, a habit that he’d picked up from Barbara and had quickly made frequent use of with Bruce.

“I don’t believe-” Bruce paused and tried to gather his words carefully, “I think that Jason does care for Tim. Which is why I am concerned that one of these days he will hurt Tim a little too bady and… I can not believe Jason truly wants that. No matter what his instincts tell him.”

“Bruce, you know it’s different for Mer.” Dick sighed, twisted with fascinating flexibility even for a Mer before resurfacing and sliding close to Bruce, “Can you still not believe that physical harm can sometimes be really wanted?”

Bruce lightly touched Dick’s scars. Remembered all the times they’d made love and Dick had begged Bruce to hurt him. Bruce couldn’t do it though. Dick was precious to him and he firmly believed that to do the kind of violence Dick wanted from him to someone he loved could not be ok. To Dick, scars were a sign of strength, survival, something to be deeply proud of. To Bruce they were reminders of failures, of the times he nearly lost someone who was deeply important to him. He would never tell Dick, but he did sometimes dream of doing terrible things to him. Knowing that Dick would love it did not change the sick feeling in his stomach. What was wrong was wrong though and there was no getting around that.  

He couldn’t compromise on that fact. He had to believe that there was another way for Tim and Jason to be close or he’d have to accept that he could never truly give Dick what he needed from him as Mer.

Bruce kissed Dick as gently as the Mer would allow. Loomed and pulled Dick tight against him. The water made gentle waves as Dick’s tail curled and uncurled with every firm and powerful touch.

Sometimes, in the privacy of his own mind, he wished Dick was human. He imagined being able to give Dick all his gentleness somehow. Being able to take Dick into the city to meet new people. To be in the sun and show him bright and beautiful things. Or maybe Bruce would twist something like that too.

Bruce felt a small bit of guilt for the wish. Because Dick _was_ a Mer. And how could want Dick to be anything but exactly who he was? Even if part of him was certain Dick’s soul would be just as bright, just as wonderful, no matter what body he inhabited.

“Bruce, please…” Dick’s fingers were clenching and unclenching in Bruce’s hair and he broke apart from his mouth with difficulty to push him back into the water for a breath before pulling him back up again for another kiss.

“Bruce…” Dick clawed at him.

“I’ve got you.” Bruce told him smoothing a hand down his back and then over his scales.

“I want you.” Dick said trying to be closer.

“You have me.” Bruce promised both of them.

**Author's Note:**

> Ah Bruce. Tim is definitely not going to be speaking to you for a while. 
> 
> Come bother me on Tumblr!


End file.
